* Finally, on coach Ben Howland, Walton said, “If I was in charge, things would be different.”

I chatted with CBS commentator Doug Gottlieb, the former Oklahoma State point guard who now lives in southern California. I talked to him about whether the Pac-12 is improved for a story that will be published Wednesday, and the subject came around to UCLA.

Gottlieb is one of the more glib college basketball analysts on TV, refreshingly candid. So I’m not surprised at his comments. Keep in mind, Gottlieb has no affiliation with UCLA so Walton’s comments hit him more as a broadcaster.

“It was unprofessional, clueless and uneducated,” Gottlieb told me. “The assumption that UCLA packed people in is wrong. UCLA plays slow? They’re leading the league in scoring.

“He has every right to feel that Ben Howland is not the guy. But you’ve got to be fair.”

Gottlieb said a big reason UCLA isn’t drawing well (it’s averaging only 7,759 in renovated 12,829-seat Pauley pavilion) is the nature of the area.

“You know why no one’s in the stands? Because every game is on TV,” Gottlieb said. “The Washington game was a 6 p.m. local start. No one goes to college basketball in southern California.”

Frankly, when I heard it, I liked what Walton had to say. College basketball has always been rife with yes men and carnival barkers, led by none other than Dick Vitale. I like Dick. He’s done a lot for the game. He has always been nice to me. But he hasn’t squawked one negative word about a coach since he said Kentucky coach Eddie Sutton shoul resign because of the FedEx scandal in 1989.

However, knowing Walton is an ex-Bruin and after talking to Gottlieb, I can see now that Walton came across less like a broadcaster and more like an angry alum.

“I’ve made a career out of being honest but also I’ve made a career out of being fair, regardless of the school,” Gottlieb said. “He was unbelievably unfair to Ben Howland and, at times, (Stanford coach) Johnny Dawkins.”

“Bill’s been critical since he’s been doing our games against Missouri,” Howland said. “He’s an analyst and that’s his job. He has a right to be critical. I understand that. It’s part of our business especially in a high-profile position like being the coach at UCLA which is always going to be in the shadow of the greatest coach (John Wooden) in the history of the game — the GAME, at any level.

“(That’s) Bill Walton’s college coach. So that’s Bill’s point of reference. I understand that. You’ve got to remember, his point of reference is 60-0 his first two years. So anything less than what he experienced is for him very difficult to accept.”

Article printed from The Field House: http://blogs.denverpost.com/colleges